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Thursday, January 31, 2013

This is Joanne's last CCEE challenge for the month, and she's going out with a bang. She said, " We in the Northern Hemisphere are in the midst of winter, so let's think HOT." Of course, winter in Florida is not as cold as winter where Joanne lives . . . but that's another story. Anyway, I decided to make a hot anniversary card.

I printed off a photo of chili peppers that I found on the internet and used pieces of it for my narrow panels. I stamped the tied bunch of chili peppers for the center panel of my card, coloring them in both red and yellow. I have to thank fellow CCEE Stamper and MFP DT member Vicky Gould for the idea of the googlie eyes on the single peppers. I had seen a card she did that way and thought they were so cute! The sentiment on the inside is a simple "Happy Anniversary."

If you'd like to make a HOT CARD for our challenge, check out the CCEE Blog and post your card using Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post.

Monday, January 28, 2013

This week's CAS challenge on Splitcoaststampers is a Featured Stamper challenge. The Featured Stamper is mamaxsix (a/k/a Gail). I looked through her gallery and found many cards that I could CASE but decided on her Thankful Plaque. As you can see, I changed her plaque to a card, but I'm sure you can see how I used it as inspiration.

I used a stamp set I received for participating in one of the swaps on Speedy TV a few months ago. I just love that little scene inside the leaf. Although Gail's large leaf is brown, my leaf is mainly blue (the sky). The sentiments are from that same MFP set, Autumn Friendships. The smaller leaves are from a couple of other MFP sets. After stamping the large leaf on the cardstock, I also stamped it on a piece of Eclipse tape and cut out a mask so that I could sponge the sky with distress inks. Gail's plaque has light images throughout the background. I just stippled in the empty spaces.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

This week's Speedy Fox and Friends challenge on the MFP Blog was to doodle a frame on your card. I confess that doodling is not my forte, but I gave it a shot. And I'm also not a wine connoisseur, but I learned that cabernet grapes are red (found that on the internet!). In fact, there are a great many varieties of red grapes.

My card is pretty simple. I stamped the bunch of grapes and then colored them using Copic markers -- RV32, RV34, and R39 for the grapes; YG91, YG93, YG95, and YG97 for the leaves. The "frame" was made with a Memento Bamboo Leaves marker and then sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Crushed Olive ink. If you'd like to try your hand at doodling, we'd love for you to play along with us. Just remember to link your card up on the MFP Blog for a chance to win a free stamp set. If you use an MFPaHC set, you get two chances to win!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Joanne found an interesting "national day" to celebrate today -- Punch the Clock Day, which is on January 27th. So her challenge for the CCEE Stampers was to honor this little-known holday by creating a masculine card with some connection to time or clocks. Here's mine:

I always loved the grandmother clock (smaller than a grandfather clock) my mom had in her living room. That's one of the reasons I was drawn to this new set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company. She also had a chair shaped very similar to the one on my card, although it was turquoise, not green.

If you'd like to play along with the CCEE Stampers and celebrate Punch the Clock Day, link your card up to Mr. Linky on the CCEE Blog.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

I've always liked sketch challenges because they give you a place to start when making a card. I think this challenge was the first one I ever participated in when I started visiting Splitcoaststampers. Speedy TV also has a Sketch with a Twist challenge that is always fun.

This layout also uses the Triple Stamping technique. There's a tutorial on Speedy TV you can check out if you've never made this particular type of card. After stamping and coloring the grapes, I stippled the background with a stipple brush to tone down the stark white background. Then I added the ribbon/charm in one corner and the oval with the wine in the other corner.

The layout for the the Sketch Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was actually a square one. Because square cards cost more to mail, I expanded my card to a regular A2 shape but used the layout as the focal point. Here's my card:

After stamping the background music, I popped on the punched-out circles, following the sketch layout. The treble clef is part of the stamp set (Mark's Finest Papers - Just a Note) and the big notes are brads.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

This week's Speedy Fox and Friends challenge on the MFP Blog is to use twine, which made me think of a "western-themed" card because one use for twine is to make a lariat. Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company has several western sets, three of which I used on my card -- Hey, Cowboy; A Cowboy Thing; and Cowgirls Rule.

Easel cards are pretty fun to make and receive. I stamped the bandanna from A Cowboy Thing and the sentiment from Cowgirls Rule and matted it to fit the 4 1/4" base. After masking and then sponging a 4" square of MFP Natural Vanilla Bean with several colors of distress ink, I stamped the cowboy and sentiment from Hey, Cowboy. I added the twine to the top piece and the lariat to the base.

I hope you'll play along with the team and post your card to the MFP Blog. You could win a free set of stamps. If you use an MFPaHC stamp set on your card, you get two chances to win!

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the blogs listed (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on January 19, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday January 18, 2013.Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the first blog hop of 2013! We are so excited to share the great stamp sets we are releasing this monthand the months to come.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

" OH Baby"

The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Not So Ugly"

I have to admit that the design of my first card today was not my own. I saw a card on Splitcoaststampers last week made by Mary (jandjccc) which I just loved. I immediately put it into My Favorites, vowing to CASE it at some time. Today is the day for the CASE.

Mary's card used a Spellbinders die -- I just cut out the heart. I stamped the image on a piece of white card stock and then carefully cut it out using a craft knife. I then drew the line around the edge (in 1/4") and embossed the panel with a Sizzix heart die. To emphasize the opening, I went around the heart with a black marker, and then glued the script DP to the back. The rose heart and sentiment shape are popped up on dimensionals.

For my second card I stamped the base with the large rose using Versamark. I then stamped it again three times with black ink, coloring it and then cutting it out in three sizes, so that I could layer the pieces.

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on January 19, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday January 18,2013.Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the first blog hop of 2013! We are so excited to share the great stamp sets we are releasing this monthand the months to come.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

" OH Baby"

The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Not So Ugly"

My first card for today's set, In My Den, features my favorite image from this set -- the globe. It might sound corny, but I've always thought that having a globe in your house was kind of classy! This set was made for masculine cards. I used a piece of DP from Basic Grey's Oxford paper pad which looked like library shelves. I added a knot (thought that was better for a guy!) to one side. The sentiments and the globe are popped up with dimensionals.

I paper-pieced the chair on my second card, using a hounds tooth pattern, along with some "clock" DP to complement the sentiment. The background piece was stamped with the sentiment and then embossed with a plaid embossing folder. The smaller circle is glued down; the larger circle is popped up with dimensionals. I added a little interest with the copper brads in the corner.

Joanne asked the CCEE Stampers to make a CAS sympathy card this week. When I think CAS, I think: one layer/minimal imaging/lots of white space. I think I achieved that with my card.

To make my card I first embossed a Labels Five shape into the center of the card. Then I stamped the image inside the die and sponged around the edges. It's hard to see the embossed frame, but you can definitely see the sponging. I used two different stamp sets from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, on my card: Pussy Willows and Oopsy Daisy.

If you'd like to try your hand at a CAS Sympathy card, join us over on the CCEE Blog and link your card up at the end of the post.

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on January 19, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday January 18,2013.Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the first blog hop of 2013! We are so excited to share the great stamp sets we are releasing this monthand the months to come.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

" OH Baby"

The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Not So Ugly"

My first project today is actually a tag. My daughter Kathi was at my neighbor's house just before Christmas and commented on the bottle of wine sitting on their counter, stating that she thought it was so pretty. When they finished the wine, my neighbor gave Kathi the empty bottle. That gave me the idea to make the tag, using a new Sizzix tag die I just found on sale.

I stamped the grapes on the tag, allowing part of it to go off the edge. I traced the tag (using my Stampin' Up Layer Ease - now retired), on some gold foil card stock, cut it out and matted the tag. I attached tag to the bottle with some wide gold elastic ribbon.

My card for today spotlights one of the sentiments from today's set. I used a new toy on this card -- the A2 Polka Dot die for the "frame."

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team members' blogs to see what they did with No Sour Grapes. I was at a bit of a disadvantage here -- I don't drink wine! Make sure you comment on as many blogs as you want -- you could win a free stamp set.

Please
hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp
sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one) each
day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the
blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be
announced on January 19, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go
back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the
more chances you have to win; and comments on the MFP blog count
twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday January 18, 2013.Happy New Year!!! Welcome to the first blog hop of 2013! We are so excited to share the great stamp sets we are releasing this monthand the months to come.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

" OH Baby"

The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Not So Ugly"

I admit that the first set this week was the hardest for me -- not
because I'm not a dog lover, but just because I haven't had a dog in a very
long time. But I jumped in with my fingers crossed. My first card
uses the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge from last week.

A lot of this card was stamped on card stock from my scrap pile.
After stamping one of the dogs from today's set on a small piece of
vanilla paper, I colored him with Chromatix markers. They are alcohol
markers I bought at Michaels, and they blend nicely. The pawprint DP was
also in my scraps -- just the right size for the sketch. The background
is embossed with a Sizzix plaid embossing folder and the sentiment panel and
dog bone are both popped up with dimensionals. The inside says, "It's Your Birthday."

My second card was actually inspired by a photo I received recently. Last year, after my uncle died, my 90-year-old Aunt Mary moved into an assisted living facility. As you may or may not be aware, many volunteer groups visit such facilities; and one of the groups visiting my aunt's ALF is a Pet Therapy group. This photo was taken of my aunt and one of the visiting dogs.

The cocker spaniel's name is Lilly, and she reminded me very much of the other dog from today's set. So after I stamped the image, I colored it to look like Lilly.

After coloring the dog with Copic markers, I used some Copic
blending solution on a dish cloth and sponged it over the image -- leaving a
little texture to the coloring. I had done the same thing to the dog in
my first card, but it did not show as dramatically as the second one.

Be sure to check out the following blogs and comment for a chance
to win a free stamp set.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

This week's challenge from Speedy Fox & Friends is a fun one -- make a card that moves. I chose to make a View Master card. When I was a kid, I loved my View Master -- looking in it for those great 3-D photos -- how fun!

Because the sentiment says "Have three desserts," I decided to put three different dessert images on my chef's tray. This one would be a yellow cupcake with strawberry frosting.

After eating the fruit from the second image, we're topping off our "menu" of desserts with a chocolate cupcake with lemon icing.

Here is a photo showing all three desserts after you move the "view master slide."

I hope you join in on the fun this week. There are many different ways to get "movement" into your card. If you link your card at the end of the Mark's Finest Papers blog, you have a chance to win a free stamp set. If you use an MFPaHC stamp set, you get two chances to win!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Joanne gave the CCEE Stampers a fun challenge this week -- use some new toys. The newest "toy" I have I received as a Christmas gift from my daughter-in-law -- the Spellbinders Pockets and Swirls Shapeabilities. I thought those jeans pockets would look cute on a birthday card, so I made this for my BFF and stamping buddy, whose birthday is coming up next month.

I used the smallest jeans pocket for the front of my card. It is the only one with the "rivet holes" in it. As I intended to put a gift card from Michaels inside the card, I thought that this DP from Cosmo Cricket would be appropriate for the background. It's called Material Girl -- note the scissors in the pattern.

And here's the inside of the card -- with the gift card. This is the middle-sized pocket, and it has room for the sentiment. They're a little hard to see, but there are piercing holes around the edge of the background paper -- to complement the pocket on the outside.

I hope you'd like to show off some of your new toys. If so, join us over on the CCEE Blog; and link your card up at the bottom of the post.

Monday, January 7, 2013

This week's CAS challenge on Splitcoaststampers is a technique challenge -- use postage or faux postage. One of Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company's stamps is called Sending Happy Thoughts and actually has three images that are stamps. I chose the smallest one, a rose, for my card.

I stamped it three times and colored each rose a different color. Postage hasn't quite reached 51 cents yet -- but I wouldn't be surprised to see it there very soon!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

I am so happy to be joining the Speedy Fox & Friends team for Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company. This will be my first card for the team. The challenge was to recycle part of a received Christmas card. Here is my "new" card -- a Christmas thank-you card.

I used one of my favorite techniques on this card -- reverse masking. Another technique used on this card is embossing resist. I stamped the snowflakes with Versamark and embossed them with detail white embossing powder. Then I stuck down two pieces of Eclipse tape on my card, leaving an opening of about two inches. Using a sponge applicator I sponged two shades of blue in the opening and then wiped it with a paper towel to remove any ink that might have stuck to the snowflakes. After removing the Eclipse tape, I glued down the two blue ornaments that I had cut from my received Christmas card and drew the lines using a silver marker. Then I stamped the sentiment. You can't really see it, but there is glitter in the patterns of the ornaments. I have already mailed this card to my sister, who made this beautiful quilt for me. She chose the colors to match my living room so that I can snuggle up in it while I'm watching TV.

I hope you can play along with us over on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. Link up your card at the bottom of the post for a chance to win a free stamp set. If you use an MFPaHC set on your card, you get two chances to win!Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Winter Scenes (snowflakes), Dogwood Blossoms (sentiment)Paper: MFP Fresh CreamInk: Tim Holtz Distress Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire; VersamarkAccessories: Christmas card, Detail White embossing powder, Silver pen, Sponge applicators, Eclipse tape

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!!! As a New Year's gift, I've got a sneak peek of a new set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, which is being released later this month. It's called Oh, Baby; and I actually made this card for two challenges this week. Teapot Tuesday on Splitcoaststampers today is celebrating the birth of twins -- fraternal twins (a boy and a girl) -- grandchildren to a fellow TeaPotter Marilyn (APandi). We were asked to make a card for the parents of the twins. Here's mine ~

I used some DP from a huge stack of patterned paper I bought at Wal-Mart several years ago. I thought a gatefold card would work for twins -- blue on one side and pink on the other. I stamped and cut out the bathing bear and popped it up on some embossed bubble paper and then added the two rubber ducks at the bottom. It's hard to see on the bubble background, but I brushed some pearlescent chalk across the bubbles.

I found a website called Verses4Cards, which has many verses you can add to the inside of your cards. The owner of the site states that you can use his verses on your personal cards (under certain conditions). I found a verse which was suitable for twins. I hope you can read it.

The row of rubber ducks actually has six images in it, but I masked off two of them because I thought four would fit better.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, my card was made for two challenges. The CCEE Stampers challenge this week is also to make a baby card. As I have very few calls for baby cards, I am using the same card for this challenge. If you'd like to play along with us, link your card to the bottom of the CCEE Blog post using Mr. Linky.

Clownmom

A little about me

My name is Lois, and I've been stamping since 2006. I retired a couple of years ago; and, although I volunteer at my church and a local non-profit, I do spend a great deal of my energies on this exciting hobby. My late husband and I raised three children, and I have eight grandchildren -- from age 9 to 27.